PM Orbán: "Hungary is helping persecuted Christians to return home”

“We, Hungarians, want Syrian, Iraqi and Nigerian Christians to be able to return home to the land that their ancestors have inhabited for hundreds of years as soon as possible, this is what we call Hungarian solidarity (…) Hungary helps," the prime minister said

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has stressed how important it is for the trouble faced within the Middle East to be tackled on home soil rather than by bringing onto European shores.

"Europe is insisting on an immigration policy that allows dangerous extremists to enter the EU, but Hungary instead professes that rather than bringing the trouble here, help should be taken to where it is needed. Hungary is helping persecuted Christians to return home," the prime minister stated.

“We, Hungarians, want Syrian, Iraqi and Nigerian Christians to be able to return home to the land that their ancestors have inhabited for hundreds of years as soon as possible, this is what we call Hungarian solidarity (…) Hungary helps," the prime minister said.

The prime minister made the remarks during an international conference on persecuted Christians entitled “Searching for Answers to a Long-Ignored Crisis” in Budapest on Thursday.

"Hungary is doing the opposite of what Europe is currently doing. We are doing what we must do according to local Christian leaders, and which is currently most important for the communities they lead: we are providing assistance to enable people to move back to their homes," PM Orbán highlighted.

The prime minister said the best way of providing assistance is to give resources to the Churches of persecuted Christians.

“Today, I do not want to talk about the persecution of Christians in Europe, which is a persecution of a spiritual nature, operates using subtle and crafty methods, and is undoubtedly unjust, discriminative and sometimes painful, and although it often occurs to our detriment, it is nevertheless tolerable, but it can in no way be compared to the brutal and physical persecution suffered by Christians in Africa and the Middle East," he added.

The prime minister pointed out that Christianity is the most persecuted religion in the world today. There are around 215 million Christians in 108 countries currently suffering from various forms of persecution, "four out of every five people who are being oppressed because of their faith are Christians, and in 2015 in Iraq, a Christian was murdered every five minutes because of their religious beliefs," the prime minister said.